Last night’s Fashion’s Night Out runway show was billed as the biggest catwalk ever in New York, with top models, an iconic setting and oodles of glamor.

An hour before the show, the streets surrounding Lincoln Center nattily dressed fashion lovers were shoulder-to-shoulder with the police, who shut down the plaza directly across the steps. (Why police closed Columbus Avenue to traffic was a mystery — until the show started.)

As ticketed guests made their way into Lincoln Center, Diane von Furstenberg greeted a group of American Express members in the VIP lounge, where Vogue editors, fashion designers and models mingled before the show. Fashion’s Night Out, Ms. von Furstenberg explained, emerged out of the public’s voracious appetite for runway images, and the need to push people into stores to buy things. This massive runway show, produced by Vogue and the CFDA, intentionally featured clothes that could be purchased right away. She urged people to go out on this Friday, the official Fashion’s Night Out, to shop and have fun. “If you want to come my place, we will have a blog lounge,” she said.

A-listers included “Gossip Girl” stars Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, Serena Williams and Julianne Moore, along with fashion glitteratti Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, Michael Kors and Carolina Herrera. At precisely 7:30 p.m., the show began. People wondered where to look.

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A bus of supermodels, in a double-decker bus, pulls along Columbus Avenue, waving to the surprised crowd.

Gisele Bundchen opened the show, followed by Adriana Lima, Karolina Kurkova, Coco Rocha, Lara Stone and others. Packs of models, organized in distinct trends, wend their way around the perimeter of the runway. It was fast-paced and dizzying, with what at times looked like an endless stream of hyper-stylized models marching to Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Kesha.